Living In The Shadows
by Nikki14u
Summary: Pain, confusion and darkness ruled his world. He was being abused and hated by his own mother for reasons he didn't know about or understand. This child, this poor boy was simply living in the shadows.
1. A Child's Pain

**A/N:** This story deals with child abuse so if you're bothered by this kind of thing then please DO NOT READ THIS STORY. You have been warned so from this point on read at your own risk. Piper is also the bad guy here so if you worship the ground she walks on then this is not a good story for you to be reading.

**Summary: Pain, confusion and darkness ruled his world. He was being abused and hated by his own mother for reasons he didn't know about or understand. This child, this poor boy was simply living in the shadows.**

**Teaser**

He could hear her coming. The unmistakable sound of the floor boards creaking and the steady pounding of her high healed shoes against the hard would floors warned him of the approaching danger. He suddenly felt his bottom lip start to quiver at the mere thought of being alone at this time of night with her. For when no one was around the woman would commit the most heinous acts of violence against her young child and would torture him for reasons he didn't know or understand. All he knew was that his mother hated him and cursed his very existence and now she was coming for him yet again, to cause him more pain and despair and the time of night did nothing to ease the boy's fears as he knew what she had in store for him.

He never liked it when his mother would visit him at this particular time of darkness because every time she did, she would always find a new way to hurt him. A new way to put buries on his body that she would tell him to remain quiet about before dishing out threats about would occur if he were to speak a word of the abuse that he was suffering at her hands. Every night after the attacks the boy would close his eyes tight and prayed to whoever was listening to spare him this and to make his mother love him, just as she loved his sibling.

The sudden stillness made the boy's skin crawl, knowing that she was standing right outside his bedroom door, lurking and waiting for the perfect opportunity to inflect more pain upon him. Knowing this the child did the only thing that came to mind and quickly rose from his bed and walked ever so quietly over to his bedroom closet and opened the door. He then eased himself inside, inching further and further into it's darkness, hiding himself from the immanent threat as well as he could. Tears ran down his reddened cheeks as the door to his bedroom sung open with an extreme amount of force, sending something crashing down to the floor in its wake at the exact moment a crack of thunder rattled the ground beneath him. The small child trembled as he closed his eyes and held his breath, hoping and praying that she wouldn't be able to find him.

"I know you're here you little bastard" the woman called out to him in a voice he had come to fear.

At the sound of her tone the boy instantly began to sob heavier but still managed to remain silent. He knew the longer he stayed hidden the worse her mood grow to be and with it would come sever stinging blows that would take days for his body to recover from, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he didn't want to feel any more pain and staying out of her reach was the only way to accomplish this, even if it was only going to work for a little while.

Suddenly the sound of water running filled his ears. He wondered just what was going on and what his mother was doing in his bathroom and what she was planning to do to him next as his eyes remained fixated on the thick piece of wood separating him from the danger on the other side as his heart raced in anticipation.

Then it happened.

The door was yanked open, causing the child to retreat further into the darkened depths only to be pulled roughly to his feet.

"Mommy, no, please, don't" the boy pleaded with his mother as she started removing his clothing.

"Shut up!" she yelled as she dragged him into the bathroom where he could now see the bath tub that was filled with scorching hot water.

The boy could literally see the steam rising off of the clear liquid as his breath became lodged in his throat. For a split second he couldn't move or even blink. He couldn't or rather didn't want to believe his eyes or what his mother had intended to do to him.

Was she really going to do this?

Could his mother really be that cruel or unfeeling?

Did hate him so much that she would scold his flesh?

Unfortunately didn't have to wait long for the answer to his questions as he was lifted off of the ground and thrown into the water that burned his flesh the instant it came in contact with it.

The pain was unlike anything he had felt before as he screamed his lungs out and fought to get away from the current hell his mother had placed him in.

"You deserve this! You deserve every bit of pain for what you did!" she yelled at him before yanking him from the tub and if it weren't for the fact that he had passed out from the trauma he would have been relieved.

* * *

After casting a spell to remove all traces of her heinous acts from her son's body she quickly dressed him and laid him back down in his bed as if nothing had happed. Most mothers would at least feel some guilt after hurting their child as much as she had just done, but not her. The woman hated this child. He was the reason for all of her pain and the reason she didn't have him any more. 

He had to pay for making his life a living hell and for causing his death at such a young and tender age. He was the reason her son never made it back to a happier future. He was the reason her boy died and now it was his turn to suffer for all the pain he brought about just by being born and she would make sure he got exactly what he deserved and then some.

"Piper" the sound of her husband's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey. What's going on?"

"Not much. I was just going to put Chris to bed. You should have seen him Piper, he had such a good time at light show" the man said with a smile.

"That's good. I'm glad my little angel had such a good time" the woman responded as she made her way over to the two. "Well listen, why don't you sit here with Wyatt for a little while and I'll put my special boy to bed"

"Piper" the man spoke with a warning tone.

"What?" his wife questioned as she tried to bat her eyes innocently.

"Don't you what me. Every time I let you put Chris to bed he always ends up in our bed" the man smiled amusedly at his wife's inability to let their youngest child grow up.

"So? He's still a little boy Leo and he gets scared in the middle of the night sometimes anyway, so I save us both a lot of trouble when I put him in our bed"

"Piper he's four years old. He has to sleep in his own bed at some point"

"And he will, but tonight is not that night" the woman continued as she took her younger child into her arms.

"Ok, but soon Piper" replied Leo as he gave both his wife and his son a kiss on the cheek.

"I love you both so much"

"Don't you mean all three of us?" the man said as he looked over to his eldest son.

"Yeah…goodnight" Piper answered back before heading down the hall

"Goodnight sweetie. I'll be in, in a minute" Leo said as he walked over sat down next to his younger son. The man spent a few minutes with his little boy before leaving the room and closing the door shut behind him.

And the instant he was gone and out of hearing rang the child that he thought was sleeping started to whimper before becoming hysterical and crying him self to sleep.


	2. Mother Knows Best

**Chapter 1**

She stood in front of the high glossy shine of her bathroom mirror but couldn't bring herself to look at the image it held. She knew that the woman in the mirror was wicked, immoral and filled with hatred so strong that it ruled over every aspect of her life. Although she knew this it didn't mean that she was going to or was willing to change. Why should she? She was entitled to be angry and take it out on the person responsible for it all, even if that person was her own child. In fact the boy was lucky that she allowed him to live after the all the trouble and heartache he had caused his younger sibling even if it was in a past life. But knowing what happened the first time had soured and poisoned the once happy and loving relationship between the mother and her first born child and now instead of enjoying the future that her second born son helped create she chose to live in the past and dedicate her life to doing any and everything in her power to make sure that he never had to relive that nightmare again.

Some would say that the measures she was taking were drastic, heinous and down right evil, but those people never lost a child the way that she did. None of them had to hear the horrid details of how their child died or were forced to hold images in their heads of his face when he died and wake screaming from nightmares about it several years later like her husband had. The woman cursed herself many times for casting a spell that allowed her to see the events as they unfolded that fateful day and would suffer the consequences for her actions for years to come. Tears started to stream down her face as flashes of her son's pain filled features as he used his body as a shield to protect the child version of the man who tortured him his entire life. A child that would grow up to kill millions of innocent people who he deemed worthless and weak. People who he would hunt down and kill like animals as he received an unnatural high from his God complex. He was the truly evil but yet her good son, her innocent son was the one who was sacrificed. It wasn't right or fair nor is it something that she would just let go. No, someone had to fight for Chris and since she failed so miserably the first time around she was going to make certain that she didn't fail him this time.

The thought of her son stirred up the intense need to see him in happier times while remembering the good and shattering the images of the bad, at least for now. Rushing into her bedroom the woman headed straight for her bedroom closet where she searched for the dark purple envelope. Once she had it in her hands she walked over to the small love seat positioned in front of the window and sat down. Taking several deep breaths the woman opened it and pulled out its contents. More warm drops of water slid down her cheeks as she traced a delicate finger over the images that the photo held as the pain in her heart began to ach a little less. Instead of seeing his contorted face and pale skin she saw a beautiful smile and bright, gorgeous green eyes that didn't hold any pain or sadness. She even laughed a little as she thought about the conversation that took place moments before the picture was taken.

_**Flashback**_

"_Oh come on Chris just one picture" the woman pleaded as she followed closely behind her son who was trying his best to escape her._

"_NO! I am not taking any pictures Piper. I hate them"_

_The sound of her own name stung a little coming from him but she wasn't about to give up. After all his stubbornness was an inherited trait._

"_Oh please who could possibly hate pictures?"_

"_You mean besides me?" he said stopping short almost causing the woman to run into him._

"_I just don't get why you have to be such a grump about this. I mean it's just one lousy picture Chris it's not like I'm asking you to pose for a thousand ok, I just want a picture of my son. Is that too much to ask?"_

"_You do have a picture of me, see it's right here" the boy said with a smirk pointing to the sonogram photo that was taped to the kitchen fridge. _

"_Ha, ha, very funny"_

"_What's going on?" questioned the boy's father as he entered the room._

"_I am trying to get our son to take one lousy picture and he's behaving like a five year old"_

"_Well I'm trying to tell your…whatever she is to you these days that I don't do pictures, besides she and her sisters should be upstairs trying to track down the demon that I sent them after"_

"_Well if you want my advice…"_

"_Which I don't" replied Chris as he walked past his father and into the living room._

"_YOU will just take the picture and get it over with other wise you will never get that demon of yours vanquished"_

"_You have got to be kidding me" said the younger witch as he sat stood with his hands folded over his chest. "Fine then take your stupid picture" _

"_Oh no you don't mister you will smile and like it"_

"_Hey you can take what I'm giving you or…"_

"_Or you can do what I say or I will strip you of your powers and take pictures of you every five minutes for the next two weeks"_

"_Did she just basically threaten to ground me?" he questioned slightly amused._

"_Yeah I think she did" Leo said taking the camera from his wife and nodding his head towards his son. "Come on now smile for the camera"_

"_What am I two? You people are unbelievable! I didn't come back here to play house I came here to save Wyatt which is something you two should be focused on, not taking pictures"_

"_Uh oh, somebody's cranky. Does my little baby boy need a nappy wappy?" _

_That's when it happened._

_The younger witch whom at first tried desperately to hold back the laughter at his mother's antics busted into a fit of laughter and finished it off by throwing a loving smile in his mother's directions as she smiled back while looking into his eyes. It was the perfect picture._

_**End of Flashback**_

That was the first time that she had ever seen him smile without any other emotion hidden beneath it. It was one of the rare occasions that her baby was actually happy. She sat there with the photo held closely to her heart as she wept for him over and over again like she had many times before and no matter how long the over flow of emotion happened, the pain never went away. It never really lessened it just pushed itself into the far recesses of her mind until she was alone again where she could feel more freely.

"Mom" a small voice called out to her interrupting her thoughts. Instantly she knew who the voice belonged to and suddenly all those feelings of a mother in pain vanished and were replaced with hate and loathing.

"What" the coldness in her voice could freeze the world at that moment but Leo was home so she had to be careful not to let her contempt for the child show. After all Leo was an angel and has a peaceful inner being that allows him to forgive easily so he wouldn't understand her feelings nor would he allow her to dish out the boy's punishment as she's been doing for so long. No, her husband had a kind and gentle soul so it was up to her to seek retribution for the hell that he put her son through.

"Dad…"

"Leo" the woman said cutting the boy off. "You know the rules Wyatt you are to call him Leo when he's not around. You don't deserve a good father like him"

The child then looked down at his hands as he fidgeted with them nervously almost as if he was scared of her but she wouldn't be fooled. No, this boy was a hideous evil creature and if it weren't for her treatment of him he would probably be off killing all the small pets in the neighborhood as practice before moving on to innocents. It was up to her to keep him in line.

"I'm sorry Mo…Piper" the said quickly correcting him self. "Leo said to meet him downstairs because he's almost ready to go"

"Fine" the woman said as she stood up and placed the envelope back in the closet.

"What was that?" questioned the small child.

"Excuse me?" replied Piper as she walked over to the boy who was now backing away from her.

"I'm sorry I was just" the boy began before being grabbed by the arm roughly by his mother.

She then proceeded to shake him violently as she spoke to him in a scarily calm voice. "That was none of your damn business and don't you even think about touching it or going any where near my stuff do you understand me you nosey little brat." She said before pushing him up against the bed. "Damn you, this, all of this is your own fault you know. You bring this all on yourself! If you weren't so damn evil I wouldn't have to do this"

"But I'm…I'm…not…not…ev...evil…ma…mama I swear" the boy began to

cry. He didn't understand why his mom hated him so much or why she

thought he was evil.

"That's how you work. You pretend to be a good boy, you pretend to be a good son and brother and then you change and you hurt every one but not this time. I know who you are Wyatt and I'm not going to let you win. I'm not going to let you hurt him again" she said taking the child once again by the arm and dragging him into the bathroom. "Here dry up those fake tears of yours. By the way nice work, I almost believed you. Now hurry up or we'll be late" she said now taking the boy by the hand and leading him down the stairs.

"Hey. What took you guys so long?" questioned Leo.

"Oh Wyatt hurt his arm a little when he ran upstairs" she said giving the boy's hand a squeeze as a warning to go along with the story.

"Are you ok buddy? Let Daddy take a look" the man said as he rolled up the boy's sleeve to get a better look of the boy's "injury" "That's some bruise you got there son. You really do need to be more careful Wy"

"Yeah Wy that's why Mommy says no running in the house, right Mom" said the boy's brother as he walked over to his mother and took her hand.

"That's right Chris. Oh my little angel is so smart" the woman replied

with a smirk as she picked up her youngest child.

"Well accidents happen. Let's just hope you remember this next time you think about running down the hallway young man"

"Ok Leo" the boy said while trying to hold back tears.

"Leo? What happened to Dad?" the boy's father said with a confused and concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry I meant Dad"

"Ok, well I'll just heal that up for you and we can go"

"Leo don't do that. Wyatt has got to learn to be more careful besides a little bruise never hurt anyone. Trust me, he'll be fine. Now hurry up or we'll be late for the show"

"Alright, just let me know if it starts to hurt really bad, Ok buddy?"

"Ok Dad"

Part of the woman felt a little bad about lying to her husband but she couldn't let him know the truth. He was too blinded by the person he thought his son was to see the boy for the monster that is. All she had to do now was make sure that she stayed on top of the situation and everything would be perfect. She would keep him from destroying himself and the world and would have spared her husband the frustration and sacrifice it took to keep them all safe. He and Chris would be happy this time around and bond as father and son should and if that meant handling the bad seed all on her own then that's what she would do. Nothing was going to stand in the way of their happiness and she didn't care what she had to do to make it happen.

Even if she had to do the unthinkable, even if she had to kill her own son.


End file.
